When It Rains
by Hope Diamonde
Summary: When it rains, it pours in my world. And all my sunny days are accompanied by a bunch of clouds. That’s just the way things are in my life. I’ve learned to deal with it.(modern day fic. girl-sad, newsies-help! yay!)
1. Chapter 1

A/N-yes, this is ANOTHER story by yours truly. I know, I know, I have like so many started and only one finished BUT I started this one a while back and as I have stated before gave up ff.net for lent so I wasn't able to post it. The Newsies won't come in until ch. 3, so just hang in there. Uh....I haven't decided if I'm gonna have a CC or not, so I'll keep y'all informed. That's all for now!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own newsies *sniff sniff*. I do however own the plot line, and all my characters(Alex/Lexi, her dad, her mom, Leslie...and so on). I don't own the song either(and I don't know if the HTML will work, I've tried it before and it never seems to work so if it doesn't can someone PLEASE help me get it to work). The song, "That's why they call it a union" is written and sung by Less Than Jake. It is theirs and I don't own it either. In fact, I don't own much...  
  
b WHEN IT RAINS b  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
i "There's a black cloud over this house  
  
That's been around for three years now  
  
There's a thunderstorm inside  
  
And it won't go away" i  
  
When it rains, it pours in my world. And all my sunny days are accompanied by a bunch of clouds. That's just the way things are in my life. I've learned to deal with it.  
  
It was a stormy day, in more ways then one. I woke up to the sounds of heavy rain beating down on the roof above my head and my parents yelling bellow me. It had been like that for three years now. They would argue constantly, over who knows what, at insane hours of the morning and night, one would storm off in a rage, come back and night and then they wouldn't speak for the rest of the week. To make it all better, the next week the cycle would start all over again. Every night now, we sit down to a half cooked dinner, courtesy of my mom who is lashing out at my dad and in turn we all get punished. I, being the peacemaker I am, will try and fill the dreary silence with the events of my day. However, that just makes things worse, and even more awkward. And of course, being the mature adults they are, won't even talk to each other. Even about the simplest things! Like if the salt shaker is right at my dad's elbow my mom would say "Alex, please pass the salt" because obviously she can't ask my dad. It's a gruel some process, but it's beginning to grow on me. I heard the front door slam and the sounds of a car starting up. It was now safe for me to go downstairs. I pulled myself out of my warm bed, the cold air stinging my bare legs. I then headed downstairs to find my dad sitting at the kitchen table, his head in his hands.  
  
"Hi dad" I said softly. My dad looked up, bags under his blue eyes and his brown hair tangled from him running his hand through it too many times. People say I look like my dad, which I suppose I do.  
  
"Hi" he grunted half-heartedly. I went over to our coffee maker and poured my dad a mug full, then walked it over. He grunted a thanks and I knew he wanted to be left alone. With a sigh, I headed back upstairs to take a shower. It was going to be a long day. I could feel it.  
  
My friend Leslie picked me up and took me to school, like she does every morning, and I informed her that this morning my mom walked out.  
  
"Who usually walks out?" she asked, driving particularly slow and cautiously because the heavy rain made visibility very bad.  
  
"It's about equal" I looked down at my hands, almost in shame. I sometimes wish that they would just get divorced and get it over with. Their constant bickering is driving me mad.  
  
"Oh" Leslie said, not knowing what else to say. "I wasn't old enough to witness the fighting involved with my parents divorce." Leslie's parents had gotten divorced when she was only two, and to be completely honest, I envied her for that fact.  
  
"Yeah. I really wish they would just get the damn divorce. They don't pay attention to me anymore. Plus, they're always putting me in the middle of the arguments" Leslie let out a sympathetic sigh as she pulled into the school's parking lot.  
  
"I'm sorry Lexi" she said, before parking in her assigned spot. "And now, to add to all the fun, we have to go to school" I let out a slight laugh and got out of the car. I was soaked in five seconds. Together, we ran to the door, laughing our heads off. Those few seconds were the best part of my day.  
  
In English we got back our essays. Mine had a lovely red D+ at the top along with my teachers messy scrawl that said "see me after class." In pre- calc I had a pop quiz that I completely bombed. Lunch was uneventful, except for the fact that they didn't have any meatballs so I couldn't get my usual meatball sub. Then, I went to AP Spanish where I discovered I had a speaking test that I totally forgot about. My last class was theatre, where I found out that we had a major problem with the lighting board, which was bad news seeing as how opening night for "The Crucible" is next week.  
  
Leslie drove me home, in the still pouring rain. I was surprised to see my dad's SUV parked in the driveway, he never comes home early. I gave Leslie a shrug and then raced from the car to my front door, getting soaked in the process. I stepped inside, dripping wet, and dropped my backpack on the ground. My dad stepped out of the kitchen, still looking disheveled and the bags under his eyes looked darker and deeper. Wordlessly, he pulled me into a tight hug, obviously not caring that I was soaking wet, and I hesitantly hugged him back. I knew right then that there was no way this was good news.  
  
"Lexi" he said, after stepping back from the embrace, his normally solid voice sounding a little weak and shaky. "Oh God Lexi."  
  
"What?!?" I asked anxiously, my voice cracking.  
  
"Suzanne" he said, stating my mom's name. "Well, after she drove off this morning she...well you know how bad the visibility is out there" I slowly nodded my head. I didn't like where this was going. "I guess she was pretty angry because they said that she was going pretty fast. Well...she...she ran into a telephone pole...and...the car was cleaved in half" my dad's voice was getting shakier as he went on and I could already feel the tears welling up in my eyes, expecting the worst. "They...they say she died on impact..." I suddenly forgot how to breath and it felt as if every single organ in my body was now caught in my throat. I let out a sound that sounded like a gurgle, and I couldn't get my voice to work. The world had come to a sudden halt, time had stopped, and all of a sudden I was alone. She can't be dead. She can't be dead. She can't be. No. She can't be dead. "Oh God Lexi" my dad said again pulling me back into a hug. I could feel the tears streaming down my face and my body shook in my dad's strong hold.  
  
"No" I finally stammered out. "It's not true..." my voice was weak and it came out in a faint whisper for that was all I could muster and I knew inside that it was true, as much as I tried to deny it. I cried into my dad's shoulder and we just stood there, him holding me and me crying. I don't think he was crying, and if he was I couldn't tell, but he was clearly quite shaken up. Like I said, in my world, when it rains, it pours. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N-HTML still not working! Still need help...PLEASE! I know, I'm pathetic, but still...I'm allowed to be :-D Actually, I think I might have it now, so if it doesn't work, THEN I need your help! I was sooo happy with the reviews I got for this story. You know people like it when the reviews start with "my goodness", "goodness" "woah" and "wow". Heehehehee! You guys made me so happy and I can't wait to hear from y'all again! Yes, her nickname is Lexi, and Alex. Full name being Alexandra, but we'll get into that later. I wrote this story because, like you Jaws, I too think it happens to often in this day and age. Too many tragedies that don't have to be tragedies. Your brother must truly be blessed to have been in so many accidents and still be healthy(he is, isn't he?). My brother's gotten into three, but they've all been minor. I'm still juggling with the idea of a CC, depends on what direction I want to take things in... Uh, I think that's all I have to say for now. So, have a GREAT weekend and...  
  
CHAPTER 2  
  
iSometimes I think  
  
Something's wrong with me  
  
Because I was never one to believe  
  
In anyone or anything.  
  
And I don't want to say I'll ever change  
  
Because things always change./i  
  
-Less Than Jake-"Big Crash"  
  
The week dragged by slowly, filled with tears, relatives, and completely cooked casseroles, the only good thing of this dreadful week. First there was the wake, with tons of people constantly coming up to me to offer their apologies and tell me "I'm so sorry Alex, it's such a shame". Yeah, well I'm sorry too, and it is a shame but honestly, it doesn't do any help. Then came the funeral, which was even worse than the wake was. I really didn't need all these people talking about how wonderful Suzanne WAS. Am I in denial? Yes, yes I am. I only stayed through half of the funeral, before breaking down and having to leave because I felt it wasn't fair to all those people there to respect my mother to have to listen to me sob for an hour. I'm normally a pretty calm person but I guess I have an excuse to be a wreck.  
  
The only person I saw who wasn't a relation, immediate or obscure, was Leslie. She didn't know my pain, or exactly how to handle it, but she was there to comfort me and that's what really counts. That's what friends are for of course. My dad kind of moped around the house, doing random chores and muttering to himself. Just watching him in such a state was painful.  
  
Finally, it was Saturday. Not that things were any brighter, but the relatives had finally left and our fridge was jam packed with half eaten casseroles. I got up and went downstairs, extremely surprised to see my dad sitting at the kitchen table, looking a little bit more like himself, working on his laptop.  
  
"Morning Lexi" he said, looking up from the screen.  
  
"Hi dad" I pulled a chair out from the table and took a seat. He was way too cheerful and I was suspicious.  
  
"Well, I've got some news" he began. "I don't know if it's good news or bad news, but it's news. I've been offered a job in New Orleans and I accepted it. We're moving."  
  
"NEW ORLEANS?!?!" I exclaimed. "LOUISIANA?!?!? DAD!" he cannot just spring this on me. It's not fair. I've had a huge tragedy in my life and expects me to just pick up the pieces of my life, which are scattered all about, and just move, to Louisiana, of all places. How can he expect that of me. How can he do it?  
  
"I know it's a different environment..."  
  
"Dad, it's a different world. I'm a cold weather gal. I go skiing or snowboarding on my free weekends, snow and freezing rain are my best friends. I. AM. A. NORTHENER." I stated plainly in a passion.  
  
"And what am I?" he asked and then let out a sigh. "It's for the best that we move."  
  
"How's that?" I choked out in shock. Goodness, I was just getting curveball after curveball thrown at me this week, wasn't I?  
  
"Everything about this city" Dad began. "Everywhere I go...everything reminds me of your mother. When I pass the campus on my way to work, I think of when we first met. And then there's the church, where we married...just everything."  
  
"But it always seemed like you guys hated each other" I said honestly. "I thought you did.  
  
"We didn't. True, we didn't get along. We just weren't compatible" my dad blinked away a tear. "We feel in love when we met, but we were so young then, we were barely adults, let alone college students. The love was immature love, and it disintegrated as the marriage went on. You're right Lexi, if you think we didn't love each other. I may not have loved her, but I respected her and I miss her. She was a good woman" by now, I was crying. I don't know if it was because of what my dad was saying, hearing the truth, or remembering my mom, but I was crying. My dad took me into his arms, like he did when I was younger and had had a bad dream, and held me as I cried. I lifted my head up and looked into those eyes I always found comfort in.  
  
"But why do we have to move?" I whined.  
  
"Sometimes it's the best to just forget."  
  
"You can't forget mom!" I shouted, jumping up. How could he say such a heartless thing? How could he just push aside something that had dominated his life, maybe not in a good way, for the past 18 years?  
  
"Lexi, calm down" he said softly. I sat back in my chair and waited for his explanation. "I can't forget Suzanne. But I can leave this city, leave the pain I'm facing. In New Orleans, you can have another chance. Change is usually for the better. No more fights...no more silence Lexi. We can start a new where no one knows us" I hate it when he's right. I really, REALLY don't want to move, but maybe it will be for the best, like he said. "I've already found us a new house down there, online" he turned the screen towards me, showing me the picture of a cozy looking two story, single family home with a garage. "We're moving in two weeks" my jaw dropped as my dad picked up his laptop and left the kitchen. Two weeks? That's all the time I have? All the time to patch everything up, pack everything up and move? Well, ain't life just peachy.  
  
I rushed upstairs, stripping out of my PJ's and changing into a T-Shirt from one of the schools plays, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. I then thundered back downstairs, grabbed my letter jacket and the keys off their hook on the wall.  
  
"I'm taking the SUV" I called out. "Be back in a few hours" I can't say if it's a good thing or not, that I have to share a car with my dad. I mean, before...before the accident, I shared my mom's Toyota at times, but now we were down to one. So, that's all we've got. I climbed into the black Ford Explorer, and drove off, heading towards Hartford, my city.  
  
NU Salon was situated pretty much in the heart of the city. It was my mom's salon too. I parked the car around back in the reserved parking and then headed inside, where I was greeted by a chorus of hellos.  
  
"Alex!" Natalie, mine and my mother's hair dresser called out cheerfully. "How wonderful it is to see you. I was sad to hear about your mother" Natalie pulled me into a hug. "She will be greatly missed" she then let go and examined me. "What are you doing here today? You no appointment."  
  
"I'm moving" I stated. "In two weeks. I was wondering if you were free. I want to get my hair cut before I go, preferably today."  
  
"You are lucky, I am free" she said with a smile, leading me to her station, plopping me down in the chair and draping one of those cover things around me. "The usual trim, yes?"  
  
"No" I said, with determination. I don't know what led me to do this but maybe my dad was truly right. Maybe it was time for a change, maybe we need to change. I took down my long, waist length, light brown hair. "I want something..." I smiled before saying the last word, which felt so liberating. "...different." 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N-sorry it took me so long to get this next one up. The funny thing is that I have had it written for like weeks already but I just never got around to typing it up. Plus, there was school and the band trip(which was hella fun! We went to Atlanta, nice place...). I loved you'se guys reviews! The was you were all so supportive of her choice...and you guys have convinced me(more like guilted me) into doing a CC. So, this is a short chapter, in third person(don't worry, the next one, except for a little, and the rest of the story go back to Lexi's POV). Alright, CC:  
  
NAME  
  
NICKNAME  
  
REASON FOR NICKNAME  
  
AGE/GRADE  
  
DESCRIPTION(INCLUDE CLOTHES)  
  
PERSONALITY  
  
PERSONAL HISTORY/FAMILY LIFE  
  
NEWSIE(PICK UP TO THREE)  
  
ANOTHER INTERESTING/VITAL STATS  
  
Now, the story!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
CHAPTER 3  
  
"I haven't had this feeling lately  
  
I want to get up and go  
  
It's like I'm thinking crazy thoughts  
  
Sometimes I just don't know  
  
Don't make me start without you  
  
Cause I got nowhere to go"  
  
-Goldfinger-"I Believe"  
  
Medda Larkson looked down at her class, in a loving way of course, analyzing the expressions on her face, determining the right way to inform her beloved students of the coming situation. They were good kids, and would understand, she hoped, but she knew, and expected, some not so enthusiastic or friendly comments. She sighed before putting on a slightly forced smile.  
  
"Class" she began in her southern accent, brushing some of her bright red, curly hair out of her face. "In a week, we will be joined by a new student."  
  
"Woohoo" replied Francis Sullivan, who was known as Jack to practically everyone, in a sarcastic and far from excited tone. "Why are you telling us this Miss Larkson?"  
  
"Now Jack" she said, the small smile becoming a real one at his remark. "I'm informing y'all because I was phoned ahead. Now, our new student just recently lost her mother to a dreadful car crash. I expect y'all to be nice to her, and understanding of her situation. It's tough enough that she has to deal with losing her mother, but she is also dealing with moving and I want to be sure that y'all will be polite and helpful."  
  
"Where are they from?" Ivan "Dutchy" Kales asked.  
  
"Hartford, Connecticut"  
  
"Hahtfohd, Connecticut?!?" Benjamin "Spot" Conlon exclaimed in a very poor imitation of a northerners accent. "Great, just what we need" he scoffed, pushing back in his chair so the chair was resting only on its two back legs. "A Yankee."  
  
"Don't discriminate her just because she's from the North" Medda said, glaring at Spot who quickly set his chair back on all four legs. "As I have already informed y'all, she's going through something extremely difficult and I expect y'all to be nice and respectful to her..." Medda then gave Spot a small smile. "...Yankee or not."  
  
"C'mon Spot" Kevin "Kid Blink" Parker said, a grin across his face. "Who knows, she could be HOTT" the rest of the guys, including Spot and Blink, laughed and a few crude comments were uttered, only to be replied with, from the girls in the classroom, sighs and names such as "Pigs" "Chauvinists" and "Jerks".  
  
"Class!" Medda said loudly in attempt to quiet them down. "Not in my classroom" she shook her head in an exhausted manner. "I don't care if she's a Yankee, hott..." at this she gave Blink a scrutinizing look, and he sunk down in his chair sheepishly. "Or whatever else she could be. You will treat her with kindness. Understood" Medda said this firmly and the class responded with "yes ma'am", causing Medda to smile. "Alright then. Now, please turn to page 523 in your books. Today we start hyperbolas!"  
  
"Only you Miss Larkson" Jack said with a laugh. "Would be excited about starting hyperbolas."  
  
"I'm excited Jack" Jonathan "Racetrack" Higgins cut in. "The curves, the equations" he clapped his hands together mockingly. "Such fun!"  
  
"Shut up Race" Spot said, chucking an eraser across the room and hitting him squarely on the head.  
  
"Boys, settle down" she sighed. "Race, why don't you start reading at the top of the page, because you are so excited about starting this next unit."  
  
"But...but..." Race stuttered but once he was the look of seriousness in Medda's eyes and sighed. "Yes ma'am." He cleared his throat importantly, getting a lot of groans from the rest of the class. "A rational function is..." 


End file.
